Hurstbridge Railway Line

Only Labor will deliver more trains on the Hurstbridge line. Victorian Labor will deliver three additional train services during the morning peak on the Hurstbridge line. The additional peak services will be delivered by adding two new services to the line, one originating at Eltham and one originating at Hurstbridge. Labor will also shift one service that currently starts from Greensborough back to Eltham. To date the Napthine government has not added the required number of trains on the Hurstbridge line, even though when in government Labor made a significant investment of $60 million for stabling and signalling works on the line to allow for extra peak services.

Only Labor is committed to delivering extra peak services for Hurstbridge line commuters after nearly four years of neglect by the Napthine government.

Local commuters deserve better than an overcrowded and unreliable public transport system. Commuters from Macleod, Rosanna, Heidelberg and Ivanhoe will welcome Labor’s commitment to provide additional morning peak services. Under Labor Hurstbridge line commuters will also benefit from 24-hour train services on weekends to get them home safely and the extension of zone 1 ticket fares for residents travelling to and from the city using Macleod or Rosanna stations. I have been pleased to secure this commitment to extra peak services under an Andrews Labor government on the Hurstbridge line.

I thank the Labor candidate for Eltham, Vicki Ward, and the member for Yan Yean for their ongoing lobbying and campaigning with me to secure these extra peak services for residents in the northern suburbs. Labor will also remove the traffic bottleneck on Lower Plenty Road at Rosanna station by separating road and rail at the intersection.

With Victoria’s unemployment rate at 7 per cent, the highest since the Kennett government, this construction project will also create much-needed jobs in our local community.